Lock-key.



H. ALSTERBERG.

LOOK KEY.

APPLICATION IILIBD MAY 18, 1911.

1 ,004',333. Patented Sept. 26,1911.

WITNESSES. INVENTORZ g1 4, j! g 4110mm.-

HENNING ALSTERBERG, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

LOCK-KEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 18, 1911.

Patented Sept. 26, 1911. Serial No. 627,915.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, I'IENNING ALSTERBERG, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Lock-Key, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to keys for looks; and the object is toprovide a lock-key with efficient means for so holding it in the lock that it can not be removed from the lock nor turned therein by burglars or other persons on the outside of the door.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is an inside elevation of a portion of a door with a mortise lock inserted in its edge and a key-hole plate about the key-hole. Fig. 2 is an inside elevation of a portion of a door with a rim lock secured on'it. Fig. 3 is a section on the line a,a in Fig. 1 with one of my improved keys secured in the lock. Fig. 4 is a side view of the key shown in Fig. 3, so modified that the key-fastening yoke is made in two sections, of which one section may be an attachment to the other. Fig. 5 is a top view of the key and fastening means of same shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals, 1 designates a portion of a wooden door, which in Fig. 2 is provided with a rim-lock 2, and in Fig. 1 with a mortise-lock 3 and a key-hole plate 4, the latter provided with notches 5 one at each side of the upper end of the key-hole 6. In Fig. 2 the keyhole 6 may not have said notches 5. Said locks, door and key-hole plate are shown, to facilitate the description and understanding of the construction and use of the key and its locking means, which will now be described.

The key has a flat, at the edges screwthreaded shank 7 and a ward 8, the latter of any desired form; 9 is the usual collar on the key shank for limiting the introduction of the key into the lock. Upon the flat shank 7 is fitted to slide but not to turn, a fiat and almost ring-shaped yoke 10, within which is fitted loosely a gnarled thumbnut 11 threaded on the shank, so as to move the yoke back and forth thereon. The rear end of the shank is provided with an aperture, in which a small key-ring 12 is inserted, to prevent accidental removal of the yoke, and also to enable the key to be suspended on a peg or on a regular key-ring, with other keys.

At the sides of the front end of the yoke are two transverse notches or grooves 14, in which engage two hooks 15 of a short fiat sleeve 16, which at one side of the key has a forwardly projecting finger 17. WVhen said sleeve, or section of the yoke, is to be used, it is inserted in the grooves 14 before the yoke is placed on the shank 7, or if it is already on the key, but is fora long time not needed, because the key is being used for a mortise look, the section 16 may be removed by first removing the ring .12 and the main yoke and then replacing them after the member 16 is detached.

In practice or use of the key, if the lock is a rim-lock and is not provided with notches like 5 in Fig. 1, the nut 11 is turned until the yoke is moved forward with the finger 17 into the slot 6 of the key-hole, thus holding the ward of the key to one side in the look, so it is impossible to either turn or remove the key until the finger 17 is withdrawn from the key-hole by turning the nut in the reverse direction. If the lock be of the mortise type and provided with a keyhole plate having side notches, like 5 in Fig. 1, the yoke section 16 is preferably dispensed with, as it requires an unnecessarily long shank on the key, and the shoulders 18 of the yoke are by turning of the nut 11 brought into the notches 5 in the keyhole late, and the ward of the key will thereby be held out of line with the keyhole, and the key is locked against turning and removal. Said results are still more safely provided for by tightening the nut forward against the yoke, so that its jammed position renders it impossible to turn it by any instrument so light that it could be introduced through the keyhole.

From the above description it will be understood that while in some cases it may be useful to make the yoke in two sections, it comes within the scope of the invention to also make it integral and with or without the finger 17. Also that the roundedform of the yoke 10 serves to protect pockets in which the key may be carried, and said yoke, aside from its other functions, also constitutes the means by which the key is turned in the look. It also to a fair extent guards the nut from unwarranted turning of it.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, a lock-key having a flat shank with screwthreads at its edges, a flat yoke slidable on the shank and adapted to engage in the keyhole leading into the lock, and a thumb-nut on the shank within the yoke.

2. In a device of the class described, a lock-key having a flat screwthreaded shank, a'flat yoke slidable thereon and composed of a main section and a smaller front section which is detachable from the main section when the sections are removed from the shank, said yoke being adapted to engage in the key-hole, a thumb-nut on the shank within the yoke, and means for retaining the yoke on the shank.

3. A lock-key having a flat screwthreaded shank, a flat yoke slidable thereon and a thumbnut on the shank within the yoke, said yoke having a front section adapted to engage in the key-hole, said front section being detachable from the main section of the yoke.

4. The combination with a door and lock having a key-hole, of a key having a flat screwthreaded shank, a fiat yoke slidable on the shank and adapted to engage in the key-hole, and a nuton the shank within the yoke, said keyhole having special sidenotches for the yoke to engage in when the ward of the key is so engaged in the lock that it can not be removed from the same.

5. A lock-key having a ward and a fiat screwthreaded shank, a thumb-nut threaded on the shank, a flat yoke fitted to slide on the flat shank. and engaging the front and rear sides of the nut, said yoke serving as the handle or finger hold in turning the key, and having a portion adapted to engage in the key-hole when the ward is turned away from the key-hole in the lock; said shank having near its rear end an aperture, and a ring detachably inserted therein.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

HENNING ALSTERBERG.

Witnesses A. M. OARLSEN, THEODORE SANDERS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of ,Iatents, Washington, D. C. 

